Zeta, Floretta, Niki

Terror, sexual violence, and fierce leads – both male and female – are examined under the hot sun in “Amok” directed by Dinos Dimopoulos, a film to be introduced by the director Syllas Tzoumerkas. The program for the day also includes a screening of Frieda Liappa’s debut feature “Love Wanders in the Night,” introduced by the journalists and film critics Leda Galanou and Poly Lykourgou, alongside “Singapore Sling,” the ultimate film scandal directed by Nikos Nikolaidis, introduced by the film’s stars, Michele Valley and Panos Thanassoulis.

Program

17:30 | “Love Wanders in The Night” by Frieda Liappa | 1981 | 90´ | 35MM | In Greek & French with English subtitles

Introduced by Leda Galanou and Poly Lykourgou

20:00 | “Amok” by Dinos Dimopoulos | 1963 | 84´ | DCP | In Greek without subtitles

Introduced by Syllas Tzoumerkas

22:30 | “Singapore Sling” by Nikos Nikolaidis | 1990 | 111´ | DCP | In Greek, English, French with Greek subtitles

Introduced by Michele Valley and Panos Thanassoulis

“Love Wanders in The Night” by Frieda Liappa

Two sisters from the countryside live on their own in an apartment in Athens. The only relative they have left is their cousin – a young man living in Paris as a painter. Inseparably bound with each other with pathological love, both sisters are secretly in love with him. Things will change when the cousin returns to Athens. Two strong female characters, reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman’s cinema, confront their passions and their loneliness in Frida Liappa’s feature debut, which was inspired by a newspaper clip. According to the article, two young sisters had committed suicide in tandem: even though their lifeless bodies were found and buried days later, their faces remained vivid and soulful despite the deadly isolation.

Awards/Distinctions

Best Newcomer Director, Best Cinematography, Best Leading Actress, Best Editing, Greek Film Critics Association’s Prize for Best Film (Thessaloniki Film Festival 1981)

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Still from the “Love Wanders in The Night” by Frieda Liappa (1981)

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Still from the “Love Wanders in The Night” by Frieda Liappa (1981)

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Still from the “Love Wanders in The Night” by Frieda Liappa (1981)

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Still from the “Love Wanders in The Night” by Frieda Liappa (1981)

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Still from the “Love Wanders in The Night” by Frieda Liappa (1981)

Cast: Maria Skountzou, Mirka Papakonstantinou, Grigoris Evangelatos, Maritina Passari, Stamatis Fasoulis, Chrysoula Diavati

“Amok” by Dinos Dimopoulos

1950: Eight girls escape from juvie and then find refuge on a desert island. However, the same island also shelters a group of mercenaries, led by a former SS officer and his son. These men are trying to locate a trunk full of jewelry, which has been buried there since the German Occupation. In their effort to achieve their goal, they decide to (mis)treat the girls in varied ways, but the young women manage to coordinate with each other and counteract their oppressors.

This tribute program takes its title from the first names of three actors who starred in the “Amok” – Zeta Apostolou, Floretta Zanna, and Niki Triantafillidi. Three women who, at the time of the film’s release and for many decades afterwards, faced what today is considered reprehensible criticism and defamation for appearing in the feature. This gesture – of naming the tribute after them – is an act of love and the least that can be done as a form of public redress, marking a clean break from slut shaming in all its forms, many decades on.

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Still from the “Amok” by Dinos Dimopoulos (1963)

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Still from the “Amok” by Dinos Dimopoulos (1963)

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Still from the “Amok” by Dinos Dimopoulos (1963)

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Still from the “Amok” by Dinos Dimopoulos (1963)

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Still from the “Amok” by Dinos Dimopoulos (1963)

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Still from the “Amok” by Dinos Dimopoulos (1963)

Cast: Floretta Zanna, Lefteris Vournas, Anna Veneti, Takis Emmanouil, Zeta Apostolou, Artemis Theodorakopoulou, Spyros Kalogirou, Niki Triantafillidi, Maria Bonelou, Dimitris Bislanis, Maria Pantazi, Giannis Vogiatzis, Toula Liakopoulou, Loukianos Rozan, Kaiti Triantafyllou, Sofi Moutraki, Lilian Sourtzi, Eva Barton, Giannis Charalambidis, Vassilis Papanikas, George Velentzas, Nikos Paschalidis, Evangelia Samiotaki

“Singapore Sling” by Nikos Nikolaidis

Singapore Sling is a broke, homeless, and friendless sort of guy, who is chasing after Laura for many years, and although he has a hunch that the girl he is looking for has been dead and that he himself is in love with a corpse, he goes on searching for her. Lust, passion, black humor, and post-romance in a Nikos Nikolaidis film that sparked controversy but was also glorified as very few other works.

Awards/Distinctions

Best Director, Best Actress & Best Cinematography Awards (Thessaloniki Film Festival 1990), Best Art Direction & Best Editing Awards (Greek Ministry of Culture Quality Awards), Official Selection at Brussels, Amsterdam, and Toronto Film Festivals